Stop The Music, We Want To Get Fit
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday October 7, 1992
Loud dance music and the leotard-clad "fitness freaks" at health centres are often a turn-off to the over-40s.
But exercise does not have to be about images or trendy clothing, says fitness instructor John Thixton.
"A lot of older people feel threatened by the atmosphere (in most gyms),"he said.
"It's all people under 35. They see this lycra image and feel out of place, as though they've got to get fit before they can go."
Mr Thixton, of Mosman, has devised a program of Over Forty Fitness classes which dispense with the modern health-centre fads.
Participants can exercise in groups of no more than five, and catch up with the TV news while "working-out" in his home gym, which has more than $20,000 worth of modern equipment.
At least 69 per cent of people aged over 40 do not engage in even non-strenuous exercise, according to the 1989 Risk Factor Prevalence Study conducted by the National Heart Foundation.
Mr Thixton said that the get-fit market for people of this age was large and untapped.
"Most of (my clients) haven't exercised for a long time," he said.
"They're unfit, so I always check their fitness levels and regularly monitor their pulses. I've got some post-cardiac patients and I have to make sure they don't over-exert themselves."
Ms Katherine O'Regan , the Sport Sciences Co-ordinator at Cumberland College of Health Sciences' research centre, said the over-40s were generally very unfit - "frequently overweight, with elevated cholesterol readings and needing to become active".
"It's a matter of fitting it into their lifestyles," she said.
Mr Thixton, 59, has always found time to keep fit. Before he became an instructor, he exercised at a gym two or three times a week.
In 1988, he gave up his job as a chemical engineer and qualified as a fitness instructor.
His pupils do floor exercises, use hand weights, stretch and work on computerised exercise machines which indicate how many calories have been used.
"I keep a record of everything (each person) did in the class, so they can better their own personal best next time," Mr Thixton said.
Ms O'Regan said it was important to "keep it simple", take things gradually and not be too ambitious when starting an exercise program. Walking was a good way to ease into getting fit.
Many over-40s tended not to realise they were 20 years older.
"I would also recommend that they see a doctor before they begin," she said.
© 1992 Sydney Morning Herald